London 1908 - The Court of Honor

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London 1908 - The Court of Honor

By day it is a vision of dazzling whiteness, with its tiled court and plashing cool waters, its pointed arcades and lattice windows. At night it is equally effective with its thousands of lights and the rainbow colours of the cascade.

~Robert W. Carden,

Architectural Review July, 1908

Despite varied opinions about the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition, an event designed to confirm the friendly relations between France and Britain as described in the Entente Cordiale, there was collective praise for the Court of Honor. The full grandeur of the Court can hardly be felt by an image. As visitors entered from the main gates of Wood Lane, the Court of Honor was their first impression of the fair. The largest in Britain to date, the Exhibition occupied 140 acres of Shepherd's Bush in west London, an area now known as the "White City" due to the white plaster of the fair's structures.

The court surrounds an artificial lake measuring 400 by 100 feet and crossed in the middle by an ornamental bridge. Various small pavilions protrude into the water, each with an octagonal plan and topped with a dome. These wooden framed structures are covered in layers of canvas and plaster. Artists molded the delicate lattice work, sculpture, and detail with additional plaster. The bridge and pavilions of the Court are influenced by Oriental architecture, an oddity for a Franco-British Exhibition. Matching buildings surround the lake on four sides. The large structure toward the upper right-hand corner of the postcard is mirrored by a pendant building on the opposite side of the lake. These were the Palaces of French and British Industries. At the far end of the lake and obstructed from view in the postc...

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...ions and events. "White City" became a pleasure/amusement park, and the stadium's functions ranged from training Olympic athletes to the site for greyhound dog races. The stadium has since been demolished, and the fair grounds now hold the Daytona Raceway, an amusement "karting track," as well as the administrative buildings for the British Broadcasting Company (Grose).

Works Cited

Carden, Robert W. "The Franco-British Exhibition." Architectural Review 1908 July, v. 24, p. [32]-37 ; 1908 Sept., p. [108]-111

Dumas, F.G. The Franco-British Exhibition: illustrated review. Chatto & Windus. London, England. 1908.

Greenhalgh, Paul. "Art, politics and society at the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908." Art History 1985 Dec., v.8, no.4, p.434-452

Grose, Tim. "White City Stadium." UK Running Track Directory, 2001. (http://www.runtrackdir.com/uk/london(wc).htm

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